Inside the San Francisco Ballet End-of-Season Shoe Sale

This past May, I attended the San Francisco Ballet end-of-season shoe sale. It was completely unexpected, since I wasn’t aware they had these sales. I didn’t find out about it until the days before, but as a ballet fan, I had to check it out. Let me share with you what I saw and what the experience was like.

How I Heard About The Sale

I received an email the afternoon before the sale. I was going to be in San Francisco around the Civic Center area when the sale was about to start, so it was meant to be.

The sale was open to SFB students and their family and friends on the first day, and then opened to the general public on the second day. I received the email because I had previously registered to take community classes at SFB.

I'd actually never been to a professional ballet company's surplus shoe sale before. I didn't even know that companies had them! I was curious to see what it would be like and hoped to pick up a few things, like shoes or accessories.

First Impression

I arrived about 10 minutes before the sale started. There were a few other people in line ahead of me, but it wasn’t crowded at all. They opened the doors on time.

I couldn't believe how many pointe shoes there were—easily over a thousand! There were tables and bags full of shoes all over the room. I'd never seen so many pointe shoes in my life!

The Shoes

They had flat shoes:

Sansha - $10 per pair
Repetto - $15 per pair
Bloch Flats - $15 per pair
Miscellaneous flats
Gliss ballet slides

Pointe shoes:
I recall seeing pointe shoes by these brands. There may have been a few more. I don’t know all the styles that were available. I’m most familiar with Bloch, which is why I can list more of them here.

Bloch - $80 per pair - European Balance, Heritage, Etu, Flexus, and Eurostretch

Freed - $70 per pair - Studio Pro and Studio II
Nikolay - Nova Flex and 3007 Pro
Grishko
Repetto
SoDanca - Joy II
Capezio

Prices were $10-20 for flats and $50-80 for pointe shoes. There was a discount of 10% off 4 pairs, 15% off 8 pairs, and 20% of 12+ pairs.

The sizing was very limited, which makes sense since these shoes were specifically for SFB dancers. It reminded me a lot of going to Grocery Outlet: you get whatever is there, and either it fits or it doesn't.

There were also small non-shoe items and accessories available for sale but those were retail price, not discounted.

My Experience Trying On Shoes

I tried only the Bloch pointe shoes. There were a lot of Bloch shoes available, but they were the same few styles and sizes. I tried on the Heritage, Flexus, and Eurostretch. Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly my size, so I didn’t end up buying any of them.

I also tried on one Bloch flat shoe with a puckered midsection. I don’t recall the name of it, but it didn’t fit me at all, probably just not the right size.

There were some benches and chairs where you could sit to try on shoes. More people arrived as the sale continued, including many SFB students, but I was still able to find a place to sit. A worker was also available to help me and give me feedback on the shoes.

Josephine from The Pointe Shop was there to help with fittings and questions. I didn’t go to her for help as I knew the shoes I was trying did not fit.

The Most Fun Part

The most fun part of the sale was seeing shoes of some of my favorite dancers. I saw shoes labeled for

Jasmin Jimison
Misa Kurinaga
Sarah Van Patten
Angela Watson
Natasha Sheehan
And others

Tips for Future Shoppers

If you're thinking about attending a future SFB shoe sale, here are a few things I'd keep in mind:

Arrive early. I arrived about 10 minutes before the sale started and was able to get in without much of a wait. I could see it getting much busier later and when it was open to the public.
Know your shoe size and preferred brands. It helps to have an idea of what you're looking for, especially if you're trying to find a specific type of pointe shoe.
Bring anything you normally use for pointe shoe fittings. If you're planning to try on shoes, bring whatever you normally wear or use when fitting them, such as toe pads, tights, spacers, or other padding.
Wear comfortable clothes and easy-to-remove shoes. I could see the room getting warm and crowded with a lot of people. Be prepared to bend down to look through bags and boxes and to try on shoes if chairs or benches aren't available.
Don't expect every size to be available. These shoes came from SFB dancers so the selection is going to be very specific. There’s no turning to a salesperson and asking to try on the shoe in a size larger or smaller and a width wider or narrower. You may find a great deal, but you may not find anything in your size.
Think ahead about how many pairs you actually need. It's easy to go to a sale and get caught up in buying too many shoes just because they're discounted. For me, I would have bought one or two pairs that I thought I might wear just to try them out. If I ended up liking them, I could always buy more in the future, even if they weren’t discounted.

Was It Worth It?

While I didn’t buy anything at the shoe sale, it was still a fun and memorable experience.

I got to try on shoes I normally wouldn't have had the opportunity to try and see the shoes some of my favorite dancers wear.

I'd also never been inside San Francisco Ballet before, so the sale felt like getting a little peek behind the scenes of a professional ballet company.

Ballet can feel inaccessible at times. There are professional companies, grand performances and costumes, and an entire world surrounding ballet that can feel very foreign from the experience of an adult recreational dancer or ballet fan.

Going to this sale felt like a small bit of being part of that world.

So even though I walked out without buying a single pair of shoes, I'm glad I went.

I hope they have the sale again next year. I’ll be ready to go!